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Tuesday, September 28, 2004

October Previews Highlights: Erin’s Picks

Kerry pointed out some great picks in her look at the new Previews book yesterday, but she didn’t quite pick the bones dry. Here are a few more books that caught my eye.

Pick of the Month:Astro City: The Dark Age #1 (of 12)
Wildstorm – page 94, $2.95; 32 pgs.
Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson with Cover by Alex Ross
I’m very excited to see Astro City in a longer series format. The 12 issues will be split into four 3-issue story arcs “that stretch across Astro City’s darkest era. Find out why the 70s were so troubled through the eyes of two men who survived its depths.” If you’ve never read any Astro City comics before, now’s the time to jump on board.

Featured Comics:
Concrete: The Human Dilemma #1 (of 6)
Dark Horse – page 17; $3.50; 32 pgs.
Paul Chadwick
Concrete is back in a new mini-series, and “is now courted by a high-profile CEO to lend his name to a controversial population control program. While Concrete mulls this generous proposition over with his companion Maureen, his longtime aid Larry Munro mulls over an entirely different sort of proposal.”

The Legion of Super-Heroes #1DC – page 78; $2.95; 40 pgs.
Mark Waid and Barry Kitson
This isn’t a comic that I’m overjoyed about, but I thought it might be of interest to others, so I’m pointing it out here. This will be an ongoing series revamping the Legion – and extra-sized each month to boot. We’ll see what Waid can do with the characters. I have mixed feelings on what he might add to the comic. One to watch at any rate.

Solo #2
DC – page 81; $4.95; 48 pgs.
Richard Corben and John Arcudi
Issue one of this series hasn’t come out yet, but I like the concept. It seems like a free-for-all in the DC universe where creators can go wild in an expanded format. A bit different for something from DC. I do notice that issue two is a whole buck more, though.

Astonishing X-Men Vol. 1: Gifted TPB
Marvel – page 69 in the Marvel insert; $14.99; 144 pgs.
Joss Whedon and John Cassaday
This trade collects issues 1-6 of the best X-title out there if you ask me. Actually this is the best X-title I’ve read in a long time. If you haven’t read it yet, this trade is a nice way to catch up – and it will make a great gift for those you would like to show the wonders of Whedon.

Skyscrapers of the Midwest #1Adhouse Books – page 204; $5.00; 56 pgs.
Joshua W. Cotter
Damn that James Sime. He’s always turning people on to good books and now I’ve got to spend another $5 because he’s put his stamp of approval on Skycrapers. Sime talks to Cotter in his column on the Comic Book Resources website, and awarded the book the 2004 Isotope (the name of his comics shop) Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics. This book from Adhouse “collects the almost out-of-print mini-comics, and begins the AdHouse series.”

Proof of Concept TP
AiT/Planet Lar – page 218; $12.95; 128 pgs.
Young, Tucker, Couciero, Sanders, Johns, & Flynn
This “collection of short adventure stories” looks like a lot of wild fun. I’ll most definitely be making this my big purchase of the month. You can check out a preview page at the AiT/Planet Lar homepage. Oh, and damn that Larry Young, too. I’m telling you these Comic Pimps and quality small publishers are killing my budget.

Point Pleasant #1
Ape Entertainment – page 228; $3.95; 32 pgs.
Chad Lambert, Ryan Scott, Jason Moser, and Dan Barlow
I really don’t think I can add anything to the solicit: “Time-traveling scientist journey to Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in search of … The Mothman! From the Revolutionary War to the 1967 Silver Bridge disaster, 200 years of paranormal history becomes a roadmap of death, treachery and murder for a technologically advanced society. Based on true events.” See what I mean?

Chronicles of Lucky Ello GN, Dog and Water GN, and Lady Pep GNDrawn & Quarterly – page 278; $9.95 each; 80 pgs., 88 pgs., and 80 pgs. respectively
Peter Thompson, Anders Nilsen, and Julie Doucet, respectively
All three of these offerings from Drawn & Quarterly look great. Dog and Water especially caught my eye, done in two colors, “it’s the story of wild animals, armed confrontation, and oil pipeline, and swimming to Asia. It follows a boy and his bear as they wander further into the middle of nowhere and away from everything they think they know.”

Temporary #1: Chutes and Ladders
Origin Comics – page 323; $3.95; 56 pgs.
Damon Hurd and Rick Smith
This was very nearly my pick of the month. Between the cover art and the description of the book, I am sufficiently intrigued to snag this comic. Envy Saint-Claire works for the AllTrades temp agency in this ongoing series, jumping to a different job each day. In the first issue, Saint-Claire works at the Calvin C. Nelson HMO “the corporation where the inmates are literally running the asylum.”

File Under: Wha-Huh?
Now why the heck is DC splitting up the limited seriesDC: The New Frontier into two trades? The series was only six issues and yet they are making two trades out of the series. Now, I know the issues were larger sized and cost about $7 each, but still – two trades for a six-issue series that will cost $20 each? Come on DC, get some common sense. If I want to read the series, I’ll just pick up the single issues and spend a whopping two bucks more.

I’m also disappointed with DC for announcing the cancellation of Kinetic after issue #8. Issue #9, which was already solicited won’t be published. In addition, the trade is being postponed, which I’m sure means it will be cancelled as well. After all, what’s the point of releasing the trade of the series at this point. I’ve been enjoying Kinetic – it’s different and interesting. I was looking forward to seeing where it was going, but I guess I’ll never know. I’m very interested in how the series is going to be wrapped up in such a short time.

Here! Here!I’m going to second Kerry’s motion to recommend Love Fights TPB Vol. 2, Trigger #1, Quixote, Lunch Hour Comix #1 (very close to being my pick of the month), and The Goon #10. What can I say? She’s got good taste.

howdy, I like the pick of the months you both have, but have you read some good stuff not on the shelves yet till the end of the month?, also kudos on picking astonishing X-Men, and I do agree its the best X book since the Millar wrote a stunning run on X-Men, also I think I read some pages in Solo #1 .... check out Conan by Dark Horse which is breathtaking and good.... well visit my blog @ http://runningblind2.blogspot.com

Geese, the end of this month has been slow for me in terms of what I've been picking up and reading. I really liked Amazing Screw On Head that I reviewed below and Ninety Candles, which we will review tomorrow.